Yonassan Gershom

Yonassan Gershom (born 1947) is a

In his books on reincarnation, Gershom discusses theories concerning whether Jews who died in the Holocaust did so as punishment for their sins in their previous lives. He argues that in the Jewish conception of evil and reincarnation (as opposed to the conception found in some other religions), suffering in this life is not necessarily punishment for wrongdoing in a previous life. Rather, he argues, undeserved suffering in this life can be purely due to the wrongdoing of the perpetrators, and not some punishment for the victims.[8] He does, however, argue that, according to the Jewish concept, wickedness can be accumulated over a succession of reincarnations. Thus, he argues, it is possible that the Nazis committed the Holocaust due to the evil they had accumulated through many lifetimes of persecuting and killing Jews throughout the preceding centuries. He cites that Adolf Hitler might have been a reincarnation of the biblical Amalek.^[9]

Gershom has appeared on several TV programs in connection with his reincarnation work, including

Although he is best known for his books on reincarnation, Gershom is also a life-long

Personal life

During the 1990s, Gershom was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and ADHD at the age of 45.^[14]

Publications

On reincarnation:

• Beyond the Ashes: Cases of Reincarnation from the Holocaust, A.R.E. Press, 1992. (
  ISBN 0876042930
  )
• From Ashes to Healing: Mystical Encounters with the Holocaust, A.R.E. Press, 1996. (
  ISBN 0876043406
  )
• Jewish Tales of Reincarnation, Jason Aronson, Inc., 2000. (
  ISBN 0765760835
  )
• Are Holocaust Victims Returning?, ebook anthology of articles on reincarnation reprinted from various periodicals, 2007.

On other topics

• 49 Gates of Light: Kabbalistic Meditations for Counting the Omer, Crown Point Enterprises, Minneapolis, 1987, reprinted as 49 Gates of Light: a course in kabbalah, Lulu Press, Inc., 2010.
• "Shamanism in the Jewish Tradition", included in Nicholson, Shirley (ed.), Shamanism: An Expanded View of Reality, Quest Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1996.
• "The Peace Stone" included in Seeing the Light: Personal Encounters with the Middle East and Islam, Curtis, Richard H. and McMahon, Janet (eds.), American Educational Trust, Washington, D. C., 1997.
• Eight Candles of Consciousness: Essays on Jewish Non-Violence, Lulu Press, Inc., Raleigh, N. C., 2009. (
  ISBN 978-0-557-04922-6
  )
• Jewish Themes in Star Trek, Lulu Press, Inc., Raleigh, N. C., 2009. (
  ISBN 978-0-557-04800-7
  )
• Two dialogues with him on
  ISBN 978-1-105-33646-1
  )
• Kapporos Then and Now: Toward a More Compassionate Tradition, Lulu Press, Inc., 2015. (
  ISBN 978-1-329-18940-9
  )
• "Spock and Jews in the 1960s", included in Spockology:Essays on Spock and Leonard Nimoy from The Undiscovered Country Project and Friends, Neece, Kvin C. (editor), Createspace, 2015. (
  ISBN 978-1506108179
  )
• "Rabbi Birds and Rooster Chicks: How I Became a Vegetarian", included in Yanklowitz, Schmuly, The Jewish Vegan, Shamyim v'Aretz Institute, 2015. (
  ISBN 978-1517393021
  )
• "Antisemitic Stereotypes in Alice Bailey's Writings", 1997-2005.

See also

• Jewish vegetarianism

References

External links

• A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Heal the World Archived December 13, 2007, at the
  YouTube
  .
• "The Soul of Every Living Thing", a 5-minute video from the Shamayim v'Aretz Institute, featuring Yonassan Gershom speaking on nature and animals, Video on
  YouTube